Report to Ministers from the Department of Health Steering Group on the Statutory Regulation of Practitioners of Acupuncture, Herbal Medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Other Traditional Medicine Systems Practised in the UK.

Great Britain. Department of Health

Abstract

This report represents a significant milestone in meeting the Government's objectives for the public safely to access acupuncture, herbal/traditional medicine and traditional Chinese medicine. It represents the culmination of many years of work by practitioners, the Prince's Foundation for Integrated Health (PFIH) and the Department of Health in conjunction with the Medicines and Healthcare products regulatory agency (MHRA). The stimuli for this were the House of Lords' Select Committee on Science and Technology's report in 2000, and the Government response to it in 2001. The recommendations in this report have taken account of emerging health policy over the past decade relevant to protecting patients and new ways of working for healthcare professionals. There has been positive discussion with statutory regulatory bodies, particularly with the Health Professions Council (HPC), which is the proposed new regulator for acupuncture, herbal/traditional medicine and traditional Chinese medicine as wll as with professional bodies and practitioners. The report is therefore framed within the context of existing health policy. The document consists of the main report that makes specific recommendations for regulation. It is followed by a series of annexes that in turn explain the nature of herbal/traditional medicine, acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine, and provide further detailed information that will be useful to members of the public and other health professionals, as well as to the Department of Health and the future statutory regulatory body. Other annexes provide information on the development of a research and evidence base for these sectors, on existing training provision and accreditation arrangements as well as the criteria used by the Steering Group to assess the potential of professional practitioner associations to qualify for direct transfer to the chosen regulatory body.

Citation

GREAT BRITAIN. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. 2008. Report to Ministers from the Department of Health Steering Group on the Statutory Regulation of Practitioners of Acupuncture, Herbal Medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Other Traditional Medicine Systems Practised in the UK. (Chairman: Professor R. Michael Pittilo). Aberdeen: Robert Gordon University.

• Report Type: Research Report
• Publication Date: May 31, 2008
• Deposit Date: Jun 16, 2008
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 16, 2008
• Publisher: Robert Gordon University
• ISBN: 9781901085938
• Keywords: Regulation; Herbal medicine; Acupuncture; Traditional Chinese medicine; Traditional medicine
• Public URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10059/176